TOPEKA, Kansas (AP) - A prosecutor alleged in federal court
Thursday that an Army infantry soldier charged with distributing
information about building bombs is a Satanist who plotted to
overthrow the US government, while his attorney said he's only an
internet troll caught "spouting off" online.

Jarrett William Smith, a 24-year-old private first class
stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas, is accused of providing
information about explosives last week to an FBI undercover agent
on the encrypted messaging service Telegram. He also is accused
of threatening to burn down the house of a far-left-leaning
"antifa" member.

Smith pleaded not guilty Thursday to two charges in a
grand jury indictment of distributing explosives information
and a third charge of making a threatening interstate
communication. US Magistrate Judge Angel Mitchell ordered him
detained until his trial. The threat against the activist, listed
in the indictment only as "D.H.," was transmitted from Kansas to
Michigan, although it wasn't clear where the house is located.

Assistant US Attorney Anthony Mattivi said during the court
hearing that Smith planned to overthrow the government, with
attacking a news organization as a first step.
An FBI affidavit said Smith suggested to the undercover agent
targeting an unidentified major news organization with a car
bomb, and
CNN reported that it was the target, citing two sources
familiar with the investigation.

The affidavit said that Smith told another FBI agent before
his
arrest last week that his goal was to create "chaos." Mattivi
said Smith told the agent he distributed explosives information
"for the glory of his Satanist religion" - something prosecutors
have not said previously.

"Mr. Smith has thought through a very specific plan for
overthrowing the government," Mattivi said in court.

The FBI affidavit alleged that Smith discussed a plan to kill
"antifa" activists and described how to build a bomb that could
be triggered by calling a cellphone. It accused him of posting on
Facebook that he was interested in traveling to Ukraine to fight
with a paramilitary group known as Azov Battalion, which Mattivi
cited in arguing that he should not be released from government
custody.

The FBI undercover agent asked Smith if there was anyone in Texas
to target for "fire, destruction and death," and Smith reportedly
mentioned "Beto," an apparent reference to former Texas Rep. Beto
O'Rourke, who is running for the Democratic presidential
nomination.

Mattivi also said that in a Telegram chatroom in August, Smith
discussed "hunting for feds in your area" with three other
people. But Mattivi didn't elaborate further on the alleged plot
to overthrow the government and offered few details about Smith
being a Satanist, other than saying he liked "black metal" music
designed to attract people to Satan.

Asked about both allegations during a break in the hearing,
Mattivi declined to provide additional details, saying, "Come to
the trial." Smith's defense attorney, Rich Federico, also
declined to comment about the description of Smith as a Satanist
planning to overthrow the government.

In court, he argued that Smith was being prosecuted for
forwarding on information available to anyone with "Google and 10
minutes." He said he himself was able to find manuals on
bomb-building easily with a Google search.

Federico described Smith as a young man "having a difficult
transition in his Army life." He entered the Army from Conway,
South Carolina, in 2017. He completed training at Fort Benning,
Georgia, and then was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texts, from
November 2017 to June 2019.

His family is in South Carolina, and Federico said he has not
real friends at Fort Riley, which has caused him to turn to his
online "tribe" and engage in "chatroom nonsense."

"He's essentially a chatroom troll," Federico said. Later,
Federico added, "This is really just a young man who is spouting
off online."

Federico later declined to comment on a report from South
Carolina television station WPDE that when Smith was a
15-year-old student, he appeared on the "hit list" of another
teenager who tried in September 2010 to blow up a high school in
Socastee, South Carolina. The indictment makes no reference to
that incident.

The station reported that Christian Helms, then 14, brought a gun
and other weapons to the school, firing a shot at the school
resource officer. Helms had also brought pipe bombs to the school
in his backpack and had a list of 13 students who were his
intended targets. Smith was among them.

WPDE-TV released a video interview recorded in 2011 in which
they interviewed Smith and his father after Helms was sentenced
to six years. The station said that Smith said he was often
bullied at school because of his cleft lip.

His father, Chris Smith, told the station that the teenager who
targeted his son idolized the two killers in the Columbine high
school attack in 1999.